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We know that every school that uses Groupcall Messenger sees parental engagement and communication as a priority. Indeed, it has been proven that effective engagement with parents consequently improves student attendance and attainment.

Last September, Ofsted outlined the following framework for what schools have to evidence in terms of parental engagement and communication to achieve an “Outstanding” judgement:

Helping to address inequality and disadvantage – particularly in relation to the needs of specific groups of pupils, including those with special educational needs

How well the school systematically and consistently manages behaviour and attendance – specifically including work with parents

How well the school focuses on the aspects of its work that raise pupil achievement – including informing parents how well their child is doing in relation to the standards expected and providing guidance to enable them to support their child’s improvement

Groupcall want to ensure that Messenger schools are using the system to its full potential, in a way that not only improves attendance and attainment, but also helps the school to achieve the best Ofsted result that it can. Messenger allows the above framework to be met, so we want to make sure all users know exactly how to facilitate this with the system.

Groupcall have been hosting training events for Messenger customers for several years now. We know from our experience and the feedback from attendees that they’re a fantastic opportunity to get a complete overview of new features, ask any questions that schools may have and also to share best practise for parental communication and engagement with other users.

That’s why in 2016 we’ve decided to make our events bigger and better! This time we’re travelling across the United Kingdom delivering training sessions in 23 venues. They are all CPD-accredited, free to attend and at various locations up and down the country! It’s the perfect opportunity to meet one of our parental communication experts face to face.

On top of this, we’re looking forward to presenting our brand new Xpressions app for parents – it allows schools to push messages, updates and notifications about pupils to their parents’ mobile devices at no extra cost. We’ll be showcasing this system at our training events and all attendees will receive it for their school free of charge.